The Yard

 The Yard, located at 119 Broadway in Santa Monica, offers a great social atmosphere to dine.

The Yard

A fun hang, with great food, too.

By Buddy Sampson

The Yard, at 119 Broadway in Santa Monica, a short walk from the Santa Monica pier, is a fun, pub like restaurant with perhaps one of the best beer menus in Los Angeles. However, there’s more to offer than just libations. The Yard offers a tasty food menu that will satisfy the most discerning of tastes.

If you are looking for a social atmosphere to meet a great group of people or want to sit down and have a great dining experience, The Yard is the place to go. Accompanying me to The Yard, was a good friend and restaurant consultant Paulo Marazzi, who helped me evaluate our dining experience.

A friendly guy named Jeff, the floor manager and part owner greeted us. He directed us to our table and our waiter, Ben was knowledgeable and friendly. He had full command of the menu and knew all the dishes and suggested to us what to order. Of course, since The Yard has a reputation of great beer, we had to indulge in the Telegraph Beer Tasting(3 for $5). Ben, a great guy, bought us the beer and suggested which three for us to order. The Stock Porter was a rich, dark beer and The Sourwheat, is a sultry blond beer. However, our favorite of the three was the California Ale, an Amber, medium-colored beer, described in the menu as an “unfiltered, great malty mouth feel with ample hop balance. We didn’t know what that meant, but we know it was a very tasty beer.

Then the festivities started. The first of several small plates came and we were very impressed. We tried the Crispy Spiced Calamari. It was excellent, as good as any calimari I’ve tasted. Next were the scallops. Paulo, a chef raved about them. They were cooked to perfection. We tried the smoked Brussel sprouts. The sauce, a pumpkin seed sauce was excellent. Paulo and I thought perhaps the sprouts could have been cooked a little longer, but maybe we were being a little nitpicky. The sauce made it quite tasty. They were like little vegetable meatballs. As explained by the gourmet chef, Chris “CJ” Jacobson, a tall guy who was so tall he probably could have played in the NBA if he wanted to, The Yard has tapas, small plates that are money savers, great for those on a budget. The most expensive small plates on the menu are a very reasonable $16. I had The Grilled Kobe Skirt Steak, which featured watercress, grilled Balsamic grapes, Horseradish Crème Fraische. Normally, I always order steak well done, but Ben, our fantastic waiter, suggested I have it cooked medium well done. He was right. It was nothing short of excellent. I could have eaten three more plates of it.

The Scoop LA recommends The Yard and if you are looking for a recession buster and are out for a great evening, we highly recommend The Yard for a night out. It is a very fun hang. Special thanks to Emanuela for a fine dining experience.

The Yard is located at 119 Broadway in Santa Monica.

The Yard has, arguably, the best beer in Los Angeles with a great setting as well.